Bonds of Innocence
by RosesIntheRain
Summary: Yukina commits the ultimate sin, murder, because of Hiei. Stricken, Hiei runs away and struggles to cope with failing his life mission.


Bonds of Innocence

A/N: First chapter establishes the "why" and "how" part… the romance part waits till later. ^_^ For now, enjoy a rather angsty Hiei and Yukina. No, they aren't going to be a couple. O.o;  Err… sorry? ^_^:; 

***

"No!" She saw the danger coming, saw before her eyes the death of someone she loved and desperately owed her life to. Her hand reached out, forming a sharp, wicked icicle. Lunging forward, she slammed the spear through the demon's head. Horns and skull instantly crushed to fragments and the dust of death spread over them. But it didn't matter.

Hiei was sprawled on the ground, his throat nearly slashed by the demon that she had unmercifully killed. It had been instinct, to protect him, the demon who had saved her. Who had protected her. Who had nearly _died protecting her, fighting for days to destroy the demons that had once again been contracted to take her for her tear gems._

For Hiei, she had killed.

Large moonstones fell to the ground where she had fallen to her knees. Hiei stared up from beside her. It was days before his physical wounds would heal, but it felt to him as if his mental scars would last for eternity. 

Behind a struggling stone-cold face, a shock ridden mind struggled to comprehend. He had failed in his mission to protect her from his world. She had killed. She was like him now, a killer. No more the innocent Koorime, no longer a pure maiden. A stricken face replaced the other. Hiei didn't know how he found the strength to get up, to walk away, but he did, and disappeared. Yukina looked up, staring off into the distance, as if her spirit had gone with him.

"Hiei…"

***

It had happened in the midst of a very singular battle. A battle, because hundreds, maybe thousands of demons had crowded about Genkai's temple, at once looking to assassinate her and collect the plentiful rewards and capture the helpless Yukina. It had been months after she had been rescued from those humans so desperate for instant wealth and success. They had seemed so indifferent, so coldhearted even compared to the Koorime. But now, the gems were once again in high demand and therefore, so was she. Yukina often shuddered at the thought of putting a price on the human soul, and the prices that were offered on her abduction. 

Just because they were weak demons, demons that could be found by the handful even in the human world, didn't mean that they were easy to defeat. Their numbers outweighed the fact that they were weak, terribly weak. They seemed to emerge out of nowhere, and the team's energies were being exhausted on both protecting her and fighting back the intruders. It was tiring work, and had been going on for countless days. 

The cries of the dying and those of the wounded roared up to a weird chorus of pain at times. They were of use, though, often keeping other prospective demons at bay. 

But the fighters were worn out, and defeat seemed to be eminent for both sides. Even as the flood went on endlessly, the tide was driven back, until only a few remained.

The one she had killed was one of the last. Perhaps she hadn't needed to kill him, she reasoned. Hiei could take care of himself. And yet, he had lain their, and it was all because of her, because of her search for her lost brother. Yukina bowed her head in shame.

***

Hiei disappeared, and nobody, not even Hiei himself, knew where he was going and how long he would avoid the others. He was the only full-blooded demon in the group (besides Yukina, he reminded himself, shuddering at the sound of her name in his mind), so the others wouldn't understand, couldn't track him down. 

"Pure no more… pure no more…" It seemed to echo and slam in his mind. His one mission in life... ruined. And she had done it for him. His Jagan throbbed, and he closed his eyes, wishing the pain away. But it didn't matter… Yukina did. 

"Because of you. Because of you. Because of you. Because of you." The pounding started all over again as he opened his eyes, all three of them, to make sure nobody was there to see his weakness. Finally, he fell into an exhausted slumber, a mind-induced faint he craved, but would never admit. He just couldn't take it anymore. Anything but this. Anything.  

***

"Yukina, are you all right?" Keiko looked up from a pot of boiling tea. The Koorime hadn't slept or eaten in two days, just dully, stolidly obeyed the orders of a disinterested, but concerned Genkai.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you." The words slipped out as automatically as before, but this time without the soul's passion or the mind's thought. Yukina stared down at her hands, suddenly crying out and plunging them into the boiling teapot. 

"No! No! NO!" She struggled to wash away the phantom blood on her blistered skin. The Koorime wasn't sure if she were screaming from the intense pain, more hot and scalding than any of the tortures used on her by captors intending to induce her to cry, or from denying the event, denying everything she had done. She just wanted to scream, to cry her eyes out to the world. To make it stop, to stop the images that came to her mind, the eyes of death staring out from that doomed demon's eyes. She had to burn away the blood, all of the screams, everything. Fire cleansed and healed, but ice only hid the truth within a thin wall of transparency. And she had to be cleansed, had to be. What would the others think? They hadn't confronted her yet, but all of them—even Genkai—seemed to be uneasy with her. 

Yukina sat there, blind to all that was around her, trapping herself in a world of guilt, a world of despair.

***

  
Hiei's body cried for food, for water, but he still kept himself in the trance. Anything was better than the world… 

***

"Why?" she wanted to cry out at them. "Haven't you shed blood yourself? Look at you, Yusuke. You and your Spirit Gun. And Genkai! Didn't you teach him the rest of the attacks in his repertoire? Kuwabara… a knight in shining, blood-covered armor. What else is a sword for but to kill? Moreover, a sword made from your own person, your own energy. What have you to say for yourself? And Kurama. You seem so perfect, yet your roses are blood red, from what else but the blood of your enemies staining the ground of the place of slaughter? Keiko. Haven't you ever smashed a bug, or even had to kill an animal to save it form misery? Haven't you? So why can't I? What makes me so special? What?" Yukina whispered. She was immediately ashamed of herself. 

Botan walked in, quietly standing there. She had brought poultices for Yukina's hands and a new pot of tea. "Yukina…"

"Oh! Botan!" Yukina deftly brushed away the tear gems surrounding herself into a kimono sleeve. "I didn't hear you coming. I'm sorry." She immediately got up to help Botan.

"I know." Botan sat down by Yukina, a serious, unhappy expression on her face. "Look…" she sighed. "I don't really enjoy dwelling on these subjects," she made a face and laughed sadly at herself. "Look, Yukina. You really shouldn't dwell on… what happened. It's been weeks. Haven't you considered Hiei's feelings through all of this?" As if inspired, Botan made another, more rueful face, and then smiled. "That is, if Hiei has feelings."

Yukina looked at her, eyes widening. 

"Oh no! I forgot all about him… I was so involved in myself I forgot about Hiei." She was more ashamed of herself than ever. More gems dropped to the ground, and she did not bother to conceal them.

***

"We have to do something," pleaded Keiko. She sat on the outer stairs of Genkai's temple. Yukina had gone to her bedchamber, claiming a mild headache. "I don't know Hiei or Yukina well, but they're Yusuke's friends, and _someone_ ought to do _something. It makes me feel awful when nothing's done when something can be."_

"I know, but what can I do?" Botan bit her lip. "I'm only the Grim Reaper, which doesn't make things better." She sighed.

"Why don't you talk to your boss?" suggested Keiko. "Isn't he the ruler of a whole world? He ought to know what to do."

"You're right." Botan brightened up. "Keiko, you have the greatest ideas. I'll talk to Koenma right away." 

***

Hiei's head snapped up. He had fallen asleep, collapsed from exhausted, he realized, scowling. For a while, in fact. Judging by the way the wounds had healed, or not healed, he had fallen asleep for two days or so. 

Suddenly he heard voices calling his name. They seemed distant and strange-sounding, distorted and disoriented. At last he realized it was his sister's voice, his sister calling out to him.

His instincts immediately kicked him. Automatically he tried to stand up, noticing that his legs were extremely sore, and still near the point of collapse, as if he had kept that position for a long time. But it was his sister, and her voice compelled him to stand, to save her. 

As he tried to get up, the swamp ooze he was trapped in seemed to slowly ebb into quicksand. It held him there, unable to move, in spite of his speed. Slowly, cautiously but desperately struggling to move forward, he made it closer and closer. As he neared what seemed to be a shore, a boundary between the bonds that held him back, and what seemed to be dry, safe land, he saw with horror in his heart that things, blurry but powerful, and also trapped in the muck, had grabbed her, beating her, burning her… and that both tear gems cascaded down her cheeks and rubies spilled out from her wounds. Yukina's blood. 

Her captors were humans, trapped but still able to weld power. Still torturing Yukina as she struggled to breathe her last breaths, unable to scream because she could not do so. 

He fought, and fought, and fought, ember gems tumbling down his sides, until he seemed to be half-hallucinating; his movements seemed to be slowed down and awkward. He wasn't sure; was she moving away from him? Was he running away or towards her? Was he moving? Did he have the will to move, to see what they had done to her? He felt like he was floating… floating…

There was one more monster left. He had killed her captors, but Yukina was still slumped on the ground, chest heaving, shaking, and she couldn't stop. There was one more monster, he wanted to tell her, one more of those awful human monsters and then she would be safe in his arms… but his arms felt paralyzed, made of lead, and he couldn't move, not in the muck, nowhere,  not anymore, as if he had emitted the Dragon of the Darkness Flames from his entire  body. But it was well worth it. It was all for her. All for her.

Without knowing it, Hiei collapsed, sinking further into the chaos, not realizing until he felt his own katana against his throat, until he saw Yukina jumping in with him, and he wanted to shout a warning, but it was too fast, too late, and she became trapped in the tavern of killers, the hell of the impure. With him, because of him. 

Hiei woke up and screamed.  

***

End Notes: This is supposed to be a Hiei/??, but I refuse to make romance without plot. ^_^ An unusual plot differing from my usual Genkai/Toguro ideas… meh. Obviously there are going to be more chapters, but you'll have to wait till next time to see what happens. =P PLEASE tell me what you think. ^_^ Ta ta!


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